Event: Of Blood and Honor Part 7
The swirls of Hyperspace reverted to streaks of starlight, fading back to pinpoints of light, stars a million miles away. Three small fighters slowed to nearly a stop as they formed up into a triangle formation. The lead fighter, piloted by Corbin Ravelan, took a position slightly above the other two Rotronian Vipers. “Talk to me, you two.” Corbin said into his helmet comm. “Sensors look all clear.” “Roger. My scope’s clean.” “Good. Stay in formation and stay loose. We need to figure out what the frak is going on.” Corbin responded after his wingmen had reported in. Easing his throttle forward, his small dart-shaped fighter began to move away from their initial reversion point. The other two followed suit. “Hey boss… Wait. One, no two, no four reversions to realspace off our port. About 8 o’clock!” “I’ve got ‘em too. Two Vipers, two unknowns.” “Bess, you’re with me. Zolo, if it gets hairy, you get out of here and make the rendezvous.” Corbin ordered as he turned his fighter to intercept the new contacts. The port Viper Fighter, Bess Demarec, followed his lead as the remaining ship dropped back to watch and cover, possibly making a quick escape if needed. “RSF Vipers, this is Nova Flight Two-One-Nine. Please identify.” Corbin said into his comm. after switching it over to an open RoSec frequency. He didn’t wait long before a response came back. “Nova Two-One-Nine. This is Captain Apollo Markard, Aurora lead One-Zero-One. How many of you made it out?” “Captain! Am I glad to see you guys.” Corbin felt the tension ease a bit hearing the Captain’s voice. “Three of us made the jump. Zolo, Demarec, and myself. Not real sure on any of the others from Nova making it out.” “Copy that, Ravelan. Form up on us and stand by.” Apollo responded. “Down Trotten? You still in one piece?” “Yeah, roger that buddy.” Ulic Rossini responded. His small scout ship, the Down Trotten formed up with the two Vipers he flew with. Not much bigger than the Vipers, the Incom A-24 Sleuth was sometimes used a fighter type vessel its’ self. “We’re all green here, especially my cargo, I think.” “Not funny, Rossini.” Corbin heard across his open channel. Obviously, the pilot of the Down Trotten had a female passenger with him. “Sounds good, Wildcard. What about you, stranger?” Markard asked. “I read you, Captain. This is Sebastian Synklair. I think my ship’s okay. Everything looks good.” “Good. I appreciate the help back there. That was some handy flying. Form up on us and we’ll figure out what comes next.” Apollo responded. “Copy.” “Zolo. Form up on the Captain while we figure out our next step.” Corbin said. “Roger. I’m on my way.” Zolo responded. Corbin turned his fighter to form up with the other five ships nearest to him, taking the outside position in a loose triangle shape. Bess had followed suit opposite him. Corbin watched as Zolo made a gentle turn towards the group. Just as his squadron mate was leveling out of his turn, there was a bright flash behind him; the telltale sign of another ship exiting hyperspace. It took Corbin a second to believe what he was seeing. The missile shaped vessel wasn’t a Rotronian ship. A bulbous forward bridge tapering to a slender midsection, followed by the enlarged engines wasn’t anything that Rotex had built. It was an Imperial ship. The Carrack-class light cruiser began to turn towards the group of smaller ships. From external racks came five TIE fighters. These weren’t normal TIEs, though. Their arrow-shaped solar panels gave these fighters a lower profile from the sides. They were the newer TIE Interceptors. “Go hot!” Corbin shouted over his comm.. “We’ve got boogies!” “All craft engage and get free!” Came Apollo’s voice. “I’m transmitting jump coordinates now. As soon as you can spin up your drives, jump clear and rendezvous at the new coordinates!” Poor Zolo was caught unaware with the Imperials jumping in behind him. The lead TIE had barely pulled in behind him, even before Zolo could go evasive and throttle his Rotronian Viper up to combat speeds. The TIE pilot let to stuttered bursts of red laser fire go, slamming into Zolo’s ship, turning the dart-shaped fighter into a expanding ball of super-heated plasma and metal. “Those are squints!” Bess called over the comm.. It was a nickname that was becoming common with anybody outside the Empire that had a negative view on TIE Fighters. “We have to get clear!” “Frak! They got Zolo!” “I’ll hit the cruiser!” The rest of you break and get out of here!” “Just spin up your drives and jump! Don’t play hero!” The Viper fighters began to peel away from their formation, increasing their speed and beginning to move through various pitches and rolls to avoid the opening barrage from the TIE fighters and the Carrack cruiser. As Corbin rolled to his port, he noticed something that seemed out of the ordinary on the Carrack. While his mind had started to focus on getting his ship free of combat, he instead turned his attention towards the attachment at the back of the Imperial ship. “Captain! The cruiser’s got a towed array on it!” He tried to calm himself in order to settle into combat. “We hit that and they’ll have to busy themselves taking care of their own problem and worry about us later.” “Good eyes.” Captain Markard responded. “I’ll hit it and the rest of you get clear.” Corbin wasn’t about to just leave the man to do this task alone. Spotting Markard’s Viper, Corbin slewed his ship down and to his starboard, attempting to come into position off Markard’s port, where he could fly as Markard’s wingman. Both ships went into spirals to avoid two TIEs that were swinging around to close on them. With a quick flick and a dial, Corbin switched his shields to full rear, to help defend against the TIEs now following him. He knew that if he took a shot from the cruiser’s powerful guns, he was done for, but he also knew his shields would offer little to prevent that. It was better to have protection from the TIEs than to worry about the big guns and waste his ship’s energy. The green light began to flash showing that his hyperdrive was ready to engage. Tempting as it was, Corbin stayed his hand from hitting the level that would catapult his ship into hyperspace. They only had one shot at the cruiser. He was bound and determined to see Captain Markard through this. From his peripheral vision, Corbin spotted three flashes of his fellow escapees making the jump to hyperspace. Good, he thought. Someone still knows how to follow orders. Corbin didn’t realize that Markard’s navicomputer had randomized the coordinates of every set sent to the different ships. They’d all jump to solo location which in turn would then allow them to jump to a secondary position. Doing a quick slide and roll, Corbin maneuvered his ship in next to the Captain’s. A quick look to starboard found another Viper paralleling him. “Just us three, boys! Here’s where the fun starts!” Lt. Serrall said as he joined with the Captain and Corbin. “C’mon Ravelan. Let’s light ‘em up!” Taking the cue, both Corbin and Serrall throttled up, passing Markard and beginning a strafing run on the cruiser. Firing their blasters over and over, the tactic was to overwhelm the cruiser’s shields in one location while the following ship could use it’s missile system to land a heavy hit on the target. That’s precisely what they did. The TIEs took the bait also, accelerating to catch the strafing craft in order to deflect their attack or destroy them. Fortunately, the shields on the Vipers held. “There it goes!” Markard laughed. Corbin had enough time to look back and see a blooming explosion on the underside of the cruiser. The Captain’s missile had caught the frame bundle on the belly of the Carrack, causing the un-deployed, towed sensor array to blow up, not only destroying the array, but also setting a chain reaction off that began working its way up the umbilical attached to the cruiser. “All craft… Make your jumps!” ---- Rendezvousing hours later at the coordinates sent out by Captain Markard, the group of refugee pilots had met with a lone Rotronian Corvette and a few other fleeing pilots. Introductions were made all around and a plan was hatched. Jev Cray headed up the idea of taking a small group to a rumored shadowport that flitted around the Manchi Sector and using it as a safe haven for the time beings. It was also a good place to contact the local rebel cell that operated in the area. The group formed up a loose trio of ships - the Rotronians borrowing an old Shvat freighter and leaving their Vipers with the other Rotronians. The Shvat freighter, the Down Trotten, and the Grippen fighter had docked up with Phantom Station later that day and put Sebastian right back where he had been before the last few days’ events. Tyr met everyone at the airlock. After some quick talking by the two known as Jev and Ulic, Tyr made a call on his comlink and escorted Bas to a private room. Jev and his female companion from the Trotten, Linza Galvoni, walked with him to his confinement. “Alright Ranger. The boss says you stay in here until Morgan gets back. Understand?” Tyr leered at Bas. “I get it.” Bas responded. He was tired and run ragged by the events from the past couple days. At this point, he just wanted to shower and sleep. Bas gave the larger man a friendly smile as Tyr closed the door, effectively sealing him into the room. Doing just what he planned, Bas was sleeping as soon as he laid down. About a day had passed when the comm. panel in the room buzzed. At least Rena Traabo had made sure he’d been fed and taken care of, even if he was stuck in the modest room. Walking to the panel, he activated it. “Synklair, I thought I said I was going to vac you if you showed back up here.” CJ sounded either very serious or was giving him her usual sarcastic greeting. “Good to hear from you too, Cassandra.” He replied. “I’ll be right down.” A few minutes later and CJ opened the door, greeting Bas with a tight hug. He was taken a little by surprise, but returned the hug. “Rena said that Jev told her you helped save him and Ulic at Rotex.” CJ said as she pulled back from him a bit, still not releasing her hold on him though. “When I saw what I did, I had to help.” Bas responded. “Regardless, I’m happy to see you.” CJ blushed a bit. “Come on, flyboy. Let’s head to the bar. It’s a reunion down there. Besides, Rena says you’re still under my guard until we figure out what to do with you.” The next few hours were a whirlwind for Bas. First, he was introduced to the strapping man that CJ called Blade. Apparently he was the first mate on-board her ship. Bas immediately knew him as an Antrixian and pegged him as a rumored Jinsai by the weapon the man carried on his back. Bas had had just a couple dealings with Antrixians that had left the occupied Commonwealth and been in the Peruvian Sector. The one Jinsai he had seen before was quickly taken prisoner by the Imperials. But that was after the man had taken down four Stormtroopers alone. The really awkward moment was when CJ introduced him to her father, Marcus Morgan. Bas quickly became self-conscious about his manners and making sure he presented himself as a polite young man, not trying to let on that he had recently been the type that would have arrested Marcus for minor infractions. Bas watched as CJ made the rounds, talking with various friends and another member of her family, her brother Wyatt. This was a side of life that Bas hadn’t really been able to experience. His family position or his career had prevented him from rubbing elbows with people that extended their family bonds and friendship out to those with similar lives and lifestyles. These people were real people, not hiding behind money or positions of power. They loved life and loved living it to the fullest. They may lead lives full of risk, illegal activity, and the constant threat of death, but they were free. The evening passed quickly and CJ never left him unattended for long. By the end of it, his head was spinning with all the introductions and all the rounds of drinks that had been placed in front of him. He was still an outsider to the circle of acquaintances here on Phantom Station, but even as an unknown, he had still been welcomed. Rena had even lifted his limitations to the station, but threatened a long walk out of a short airlock if he caused trouble. He swore that he’d stand by his word and honor her establishment. CJ walked him back to his room and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing for the night. The next day found a hasty message from CJ on his terminal. Apparently an official matter had come up and her crew had to leave early in order to deal with it. She promised to be back soon. After that, Bas had busied himself wandering the station and making sure that his fighter was still berthed and wasn’t harassed. ---- Bas and CJ sat in front of a spectacular sunset over one of the oceans of Nextro’daala. Even if it was just a hologram, it was better than nothing. It was a little reminiscent of the week they had spent together on the planet a few years back. Bas found it very easy to slide back into the feelings that he had felt towards CJ all those years past. CJ, likewise, was feeling the same way. Upon returning from Elerion and their fact-finding quest, she had been quick to find Bas and spend all her time with him. While she had formed a crush on Graydon after being around him for a few weeks, back when he joined her crew, she was beginning to think that she was transferring her feelings for Bas onto Graydon. It made sense. They both had strong moral codes and they both had all too often treated her with nothing but respect. Now, with Bas back in the picture, she felt the strong feelings returning. They were the same feelings she had felt blossom when she was working in the Peruvian Sector and had spent an entire week with him. It wasn’t because Graydon had rejected her. It was the fact that in three years, Graydon had been adrift and hadn’t ever been more than a friend to her. That hurt, especially when she had pined for him. But when she looked at Bas and then at Graydon, she saw the differences clearer and knew that her crush had been more about not having someone there to hold rather than hoping to force the issue and make Graydon love her. She loved Graydon in a different way, she realized. It was the myth and the idea of what he was and what he could become. It was a dream of freedom coming back to the galaxy. Graydon represented the fantasy of the stories her grandmother used to tell her, back on Corellia in her childhood. Now, after everything that had happened on Manchi and on Rotex, CJ saw a change. Graydon had so believed in destiny. His grief was thick and she could read it on him. For the past two weeks, he had been different. The revelation of Lana Zem being a High Inquisitor within the Empire had shattered his world. Graydon had felt that Lana was part of his destiny in the Force and when she was shown to be in league with his mortal enemies, he fell off course. CJ watched the normally stoic man fall into a dark depression. But the one thing that stuck with her was that when Graydon was around Rena recently, he reverted to the man that she had come to know, not the brooding storm cloud that he tended to be now. Rena had shown interest in Graydon off and on since she met him, but he had always been a gentleman and concerned himself with duty. That was changing now and CJ was going to encourage both of her friends to find some happiness and comfort with each other. Things felt good. They felt right. Even with the Empire subjugating Rotex, CJ lost herself in the time she spent with Bas. There was the distinct possibility that he was coming around to her way of thinking too, or at least he was going to be willing to sign on for her crazy plan to begin striking back at the Empire. Robbing the Empire in order to sell to the opposition could be a sword with two sides. Two sides to fight back at the Empire with. Regardless, CJ was happy, right there, in that moment. The door to the holosuite opened, interrupting that thought. Turning, CJ found the young girl, Willa, standing there. “I am sorry to interrupt, Captain Morgan, but Master Blade insists that you come with me, immediately.” Willa said. “Willa!” CJ said through gritted teeth. “This better be important.” “Master Blade said it was of the utmost importance.” Turning to Bas, CJ quickly spoke, “A rain check, for later?” “I’ll be here.” Bas responded with a smile. Following the young girl out, CJ walked to Graydon’s modest quarters and stepped inside. Graydon stood, looking out the window, appearing deep in thought. His shaggy brown hair was pushed back away from his face, showing his blue eyes that were glowing brighter than usual. That wasn’t good. CJ figured that this meeting had to be important. Rather than chance an unexpected interruption, CJ keyed the door panel, locking it and switching it to a "Do not Disturb" mode. “Okay. What’s up, blue eyes?” “Lana Zem, Inquisitor Danara, and Becca Gellar are all the same person.” Graydon said without turning around. “Anna’s mother is still alive.” “What?” CJ was flabbergasted. “How in the hell?” “Apparently she used the Force. Becca didn’t die in that arena in front of Pa’tell and the Emperor. She used the Force to move to a different body when she was mortally wounded. That’s how the holo-model Chelty Stosa came to be an Inquisitor.” Graydon answered. “Wait a minute… That means that my aunt is a traitor too?” CJ steamed. “It runs in the fragging blood!” “I’m sorry CJ. I forgot that Becca is your aunt.” “Was. She was my aunt. That stanging, doompa, wakamancha, kung is no relative of mine. She should have died on that arena floor. Traitor. TRAITOR!” “I understand the need for an emotional venting and the feeling of betrayal, Captain Morgan, but what about Anna?” Willa interjected. “We have to consider her and the consequences of her mother being alive.” “Right now, I think we can keep a lid on it, Willa.” Graydon answered. “Anna still holds on to the ‘no attachment’ aspect of her Jedi training. But as she progresses in her training as a Jinsai also, she’s going to be influenced by myself and those of us around her. The Jinsai honored our families and the connections we held to them. Perhaps she won’t, as she gets older, but she’s reaching her formative years where our actions will influence her. With Becca being alive, Anna may try to reach out to her, in an attempt bring her back to the Light. That would lead the Empire right to us which would be the end for a lot of us.” “Graydon… Blade. You are her family now. As the closest living relative she’s got, I give you custodianship or whatever it is of Anna.” CJ interrupted. “It’s guardianship, CJ.” “Whatever. You’re like a father to her, not just some guy who teaches her how to protect herself. She latched on to you right away, anyway. Let's make it official so that wench doesn't have a say in it.” It was at that moment that Graydon felt a twinge in the back of his mind. Perhaps Danara was supposed to deliver him three children. That didn’t mean she had to be his wife. Anna could be the first, Becca’s child which he was to take responsibility for. Perhaps there were events waiting to occur that concerned Danara and his future children. Maybe that’s why Rena had been put into his path so quickly after the revelation of ‘Lana’s true identity.’ Perhaps the connection between Danara possessing Chelty’s body and Ambrosia being based on Chelty’s looks were connected. If he’d been trained as a full Jinsai Gai’din and/or Jedi by now, he’d probably be able to interpret his vision better, but the Force could be mysterious. Danara had ordered the attack on Rotex. Rena was from Rotex. Rena was a soft landing zone for him right now. There was significance to that thought. It was a confusing mess. Graydon was distracted and missed Willa cocking her head towards the door. “I believe someone is tampering with the lock on the door, Master Blade.” Willa stated. CJ and Graydon both drew their blasters quickly. “Open it.” Graydon said to Willa. The door whispered open to find Nessa attempting to hack the security panel. Both CJ and Graydon had their weapons trained on her. “Whoa… Hey, guys!” Nessa said with a startled response. “You could have knocked.” CJ said as the pair lowered their pistols. “Can’t. This is important. Ambrosia… Play back that holo report you just played.” Nessa called to one of the many audio sensors scattered throughout the station. The droid intelligence of Phantom Station obliged Nessa by activating the video feed in Graydon’s quarters and quickly bringing up an official holocast report. :“Moments ago, the overseeing military commander, Admiral Harkness, along with the overseeing governor, Moff Ettegar Strax, released this statement: :Dear citizens of the Empire. Today is a great day indeed. The terrorist within the Antrixian Commonwealth, who for so long have threatened the peace and freedom of the citizens there, have suffered a great defeat. The defacto leader of the terrorists, Draygon Strykia, was killed in a raid by Imperial forces today, on the planet of Odia. Strykia has long proclaimed himself an enemy of the state and has made the claim that he was the legitimate ruler of the Commonwealth, shunning any type of freedom for the Antrixians, Lutrins, Knydens, or Sangheili to govern themselves, as free members of the Empire. :It is because of this man that members of the once proud House, Strykia, had to flee into exile and hiding. With his death, it is time for these weary citizens to return home to the comfort of loved ones and friends. :This statement could be the event that was needed to settle the unrest that has plagued the region known as the Antrixian Commonwealth for many years.” Graydon stared at the screen for a long while, not saying anything. The realization set in on CJ as she watched him. That was his brother in the report. Graydon had lost yet another member of his family. Even if the report was full of lies, the news on his brother’s death had to be a shock. “Oh Graydon.” CJ said with a whisper. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” “It’s been twenty years.” Graydon said when he finally broke his silence. “I wouldn’t even know him now.” “But still… He was your brother.” “Yes, he was.” Graydon cast his eyes down. “Now that means I’m High Lord.” “Wait… What?” CJ looked at him quizzically. “Why you? Why not Allyson?” “No… it has to be me.” Graydon turned to face CJ, Nessa, and Willa. “I was birthed first, so it falls to me.” A flickering blue image coalesced next to CJ, interrupting the conversation. The hologram took the form of Ambrosia. “Please forgive the interruption.” The holo Ambrosia said. “Miss Rena has requested your presence in the conference room.” The holo then vanished. “C’mon, Willa.” Nessa said. “Let’s go.” Nessa and Willa started out the door, ahead of the others. CJ walked to Graydon and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “I can’t help but feel some of the hurt for you.” She whispered. “Thank you.” “I’m here for you, if you need anything, M’lord.” Category:Events